2018 Jobs At Oxfam Ghana

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5 Jan, 2018

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Research Jobs in Ghana

Oxfam is an international confederation of 19 organizations working together with partners and local communities in more than 90 countries. Oxfam is determined to change that world by mobilizing the power of people against poverty and inequality because one out of three people in the world lives in poverty and eight billionaires own the same wealth as the poorest 3.6 billion people. Oxfam’s purpose in Ghana is to fight poverty, inequality and suffering through evidence based advocacy, campaigning and influencing policies in favour of the poor to promote inclusive growth and development.

Job Description

Job Title: Qualitative Research Specialist

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE CRAFS PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS REVIEW IN NORTH GHANA: RECRUITMENT OF CONSULTANTS

1. CONSULTANCY OVERVIEW
Oxfam has been working in Ghana since 1986, managing programmes related to food security and livelihoods, access to healthcare and transparency and accountability in extractive industries (mining,
oil and gas). Oxfam’s experience in the country and strong partnerships with government institutions, Ghanaian civil society organisations and NGOs supports the delivery of active and innovative programmes and advocacy work seeking to improve the livelihoods of Ghanaians and strengthen citizen accountability. Oxfam has a particularly strong experience of working in Ghana’s three northern regions that are more acutely affected by poverty, food insecurity and the impacts of climate change, while also working at the national level to support key civil society movements in advocacy and campaigning for policy influencing and reform processes.
In the response to the urgent need and as part of the larger efforts to advance food security and adaptation to climate change in Ghana, Oxfam has since 2012, been running a pilot project in 16 communities across the three regions in northern Ghana, supported by the organisation’s Leverage and Scarcity Challenge Fund.
The CLIMATE RESILIENT AGRICULUTRE AND FOOD SYSTEMS (CRAFS) programme built on this project to keep on enhancing the adaptive capacity of women and men small-scale farmers in the North of Ghana and partner organisations to support, lobby and campaign for improved policy and practice changes for smallscale farmers, enabling them both inform and hold accountable relevant institutions at the local level.
The project aims at creating the conditions whereby women and men primary producers in the three northern regions of Ghana become increasingly able to make informed and appropriate decisions about their lives and livelihoods in a changing climate through collectively participating and influencing climate-resilient food and agricultural policy and practice that advance and strengthen food and livelihood security in the face of climate change. To this end, CCA/DRR planning will be conducted, and community-based mechanisms to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacities from climate change impacts will be developped.
Oxfam in Ghana and Oxfam Great Britain are recruiting two consultants to conduct a qualitative fieldwork and a quantitative large-scale survey for an Effectiveness
Reviews of the CRAFS program in North Ghana: Northern region, Upper East region and Upper West region. The Effectiveness Review will focus on measuring impact on resilience, following Oxfam’s Framework for Resilient Development (2016), using a counterfactual approach.
This consultancy does not include the data analysis or final report writing phases. Two consultants are required: a Qualitative Research Specialist and a Survey
Team Coordinator. Proposals are invited from organisations and individual consultants who meet the profile described below. You may apply for just one position or a joint-proposal as a team of two consultants or as an agency. The proposal should outline the consultant’s profile (including CV/resume), proposed management arrangements, and examples of previous work.
1. Qualitative formative research will be conducted to explore what resilience means for different social groups (men and women, of different age primarily, and people with disability secondarily) in the setting of the project area, and not in relation with the program under review. This research will be a key component of the Effectiveness Review design.
Oxfam is recruiting a Qualitative Research Specialist to conduct this work with Oxfam GB Global Impact Evaluation Adviser and Oxfam Ghana program manager.
Based on the qualitative research, individual level questionnaires, and a weighting system of different aspects of resilience by individuals, will be developed to capture gender-differentiated resilience capacities.

The survey will be conducted with 1000 households using two different questionnaires: a 30 minute long individual questionnaire, administered separately to the self-identified main male responsible for the decision-making, and the self-identified main female responsible for decision-making, and a 30 minute long household questionnaire, administered jointly to both individual respondents. It is Oxfam’s strong preference that the questionnaires be administered electronically, using Oxfam’s SurveyCTO server and mobile devices or tablets. The statistical analysis will be carried out by Oxfam’s Impact Evaluation Adviser.
The Oxfam team will be responsible for the overall methodology, but will work in close collaboration with both consultants (as well as Oxfam partner organisations) to identify the comparison group, define the sampling protocol and create appropriate questionnaires.
The assignment is expected to take approximately 10 days for the qualitative research specialist and 30 days for the Survey Team Coordinator between 18th of January and 28th of February. A detailed timeline is presented in the ToR.

2. PROGRAMME SUMMARY
Climate change already affects growth and development in Ghana. Efforts to combat climate change are usually fragmented and done reactively in Ghana. As a result of the changing climate, farming activities are being undermined by erratic rainfall, degraded natural resource base, limited access to inputs, and inadequate skills and knowledge; increased temperatures, reduced rainfall, reduced tree and vegetation cover, increased population, and increased dry season farming are
depleting the water table/drying up vital water sources; incomes of farmers are limited by reliance and limitations of rain fed agriculture; processing opportunities exist (shea and add others) to increase value, but there are barriers to pursuing these opportunities. Climate change is bringing more erratic weather and more extremes of weather on local communities. These multiple factors are pushing a number of communities and poor people into further poverty. Women are becoming more vulnerable due to the dwindling fruiting of shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) of which about 80% of them rely for livelihood; Levels of food production are dropping fast; income levels keeps reducing and a number of poor people becoming food insecure and vulnerable. Integrated and proactive approach that focuses on natural
resource management, food production and improved income levels was identified as the surest to build resilience and adaptive capacity of the people.
The project sites are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of extreme weather events and slow onset climate change. The Garu-Tempane and East Mamprusi districts are particularly susceptible to flash floods since they are located downstream riverine of the Volta. The annual spill from the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso intermittently inundates farms and settlements during heavy rainfall.
The goal of the project is ‘to contribute to the fight against poverty and the negative effects of climate change by enhancing the livelihood security and capacity for community-based adaptation measures for the most vulnerable small-scale producers in northern Ghana’. The project was designed to bring about improved livelihood security and to foster adaptive capacity of 4,500 poor and vulnerable women, youth and men small-scale producers with greater support from local institutions to climate change impact, of which 3,140 are women, in 4 districts of the Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions of Ghana.
The project activities are organized around 4 pillars:
Raising awareness;
Improving farming methods;
Securing and improving fast-depleting natural resource base;
Demonstrating institutional capacity.

3. EVALUATION QUESTIONS
The Effectiveness Reviews will focus on measuring impact of the project on individual and household’s resilience capacities (absorptive, adaptive and
transformative). This Effectiveness Reviews will focus on how the project may have affected different social groups differently (men and women particularly).

4. SCOPE OF WORK
This Effectiveness Review requires two consultant roles. One consultant will be leading the qualitative formative research to inform evaluation design and questionnaire development, and one consultant will be leading the quantitative survey data collection. The specific scope of work for each position is outlined below.
The two consultants need to work together throughout the evaluation but will report directly to the Oxfam GB Impact Evaluation Adviser. Qualitative Research Specialist Participate in the “Theory of change and Effectiveness Review Design workshop”.
Work with Oxfam staff to design a suitable qualitative approach to explore how resilience capacities may differ for different social groups (men and
women, of different age primarily, and men and women with disabilities), through focus group discussions (FGD) mainly, and individual interviews if needed.
Ranking or weighting exercises should be conducted in the focus groups, to identify what resilience means for participants, which characteristics of it one values differently, and why. The consultant will need to have experience in designing and conducting FGD and individual interviews, and should present in the proposal his or her way to facilitate FGDs with men only, and women separately, and ensuring women feel comfortable to speak up
Hire a research assistant to provide support throughout the qualitative data collection exercise including the capture of detailed notes. (Note: the final
selection of the qualitative research assistant will be carried out jointly between the consultant and Oxfam, and both parties will agree on the selected candidates).
Together with Oxfam GB Impact Evaluation Adviser, conduct a week of qualitative fieldwork. Organise the logistical arrangements necessary to carry out the field work, including transport and accommodation, as necessary. Proposals should outline where Oxfam should support on this, and the budget provided must include these costs. The Survey Team Coordinator will be expected to take part in this work, at least one day towards the end, when we will start working on individual quantitative questionnaire development.
Arrange the translation of the questions and tools, into the local languages: Bimoba, Kusaal, Dagara, Mampruli. However, the consultant and research
assistant selected should be fluent in English and at least one of the language spoken in the project area (depending on where the fieldwork will take place).
Work with Oxfam staff and the Survey Team Coordinator to design the individual quantitative questionnaire.
Work with Oxfam staff and the Survey Team Coordinator to identify a valid comparison group of villages and households that were similar to the project participants before it started, but who did not in fact participate in the project.
Participate in enumerator training on the quantitative individual questionnaire (1 to 1,5 days).
Write a report on 1) the conduct of the field work, including details of any problems which were encountered and how they were resolved, and any
feedback which may be useful for future surveys, 2) the presentation of the results on what resilience capacities mean for men and women in the project area, how the different characteristics are valued, and why. The transcripts of all the interviews should be annexed to the report.

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5. TIMEFRAME AND TIME COMMITMENT
The assignment is expected to take approximately 15 days for the qualitative research specialist and 30 days for the survey team coordinator.
Between the 18th of January and the 21st of January the consultants will have remote contact with the Oxfam evaluation team and start the process of identifying the survey enumerators and qualitative research assistant.
The Oxfam’s Impact Evaluation Adviser will arrive in Ghana on the 24th and 25th of January in Tamale. Qualitative field work preparation and qualitative fieldwork will take place between the 26th and 31st of January.
Enumerator training (for quantitative surveys) will start on the 5th of February.
The consultant will then begin data collection with her or his team on the 9th of February, and Oxfam’s Impact Evaluation Adviser will take part in the survey launch.
Data collection should take place between 9th of February and the 24th of February.

6. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES
Qualitative Research Specialist
Set of qualitative tools and question checklists for focus groups, interviews etc – translated if necessary (26th of January)

Detailed notes in English of all interviews/focus groups, with breakdown of respondent details (4th of February)
Report on 1) the conduct of the field work, including details of any problems which were encountered and how they were resolved, and any feedback
which may be useful for future surveys, 2) the presentation of the results on what resilience capacities mean for men and women in the project area, how the different characteristics are valued, and why. The transcripts of all the interviews should be annexed to the report (13th of February).

Required Skills or Experience

Qualitative Research Specialist
Masters graduate in research, development, agriculture, gender or similar.
Fluency in at least one of the ER languages: Bimoba, Kusaal, Dagara, Mampruli.
Ability to read, write and understand English effectively.
Significant experience of conducting qualitative research related to vulnerabilities, and gender dynamics.
Experience in designing and conducting FGD and individual interviews.
Energy and a positive attitude to work, even when working in arduous conditions.
Experience of working in rural North Ghana preferably, with a strong understanding of gender dynamics, rural livelihoods and climate change adaptation in this context.

8. BUDGET
The budgets will include taxes. The budget submitted by the consultant should include:
Consultant’s fees and subsistence for approximately 10 days of work; fees for qualitative research assistant; transport and (if applicable) subsistence
costs for the research team; printing of tools and question checklists; consultants’ travel; any other costs anticipated in completing this assignment.
An explanation of the budget should be presented in the technical offer, and the assumptions should be detailed (for the survey team coordinator, we
expect the number of enumerators and survey per enumerators, as well as choices in terms of survey logistics to be detailed in the technical offer).
N.B: The costs of organizing Theory of Change and Effectiveness Review Design Workshop will not be covered by the consultants.

How to Apply

Proposals are invited from organisations and individual consultants who meet the profile described above. You may apply for just one position or a joint-proposal as a team of two consultants, or as an agency. The proposal should outline the consultants’ profile (including their CV/resume), proposed management arrangements, and examples of previous work. Proposals must also include a clear itemised budget. Any proposals that do not include an itemised budget will not be considered.
Proposals should be submitted to [email protected] by the 7th of January, midnight GMT


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